Daydream
by cweasleys
Summary: In which, Eliza Keating, John Keating's niece, attends Hell-ton under special circumstances and comes close to the biggest romantics at school. Especially one in particular. Neil Perry x OC. Full summary inside.
1. A Letter to Poets

**PROLOGUE**

 _ **A LETTER TO POETS !**_

 **CARPE DIEM** _(exclamation)_ used to urge someone to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future.

Eliza Keating knew the phrase well, a little nagging at the back of her head that sounded oddly like her uncle. Something penned to her name now, after years of trying to apply it to herself.

Her days were numbered, no matter who little or how many she had, they were factually numbered. Time was dawning on the young woman, on all of the boys that went to Wellton Academy and even the professors too.

And in the end, one boy, no matter how much he seized and tried and loved and grew, was unable to find his own life between the stanzas.


	2. A Welcome to Welton

**CHAPTER ONE**

 _ **A WELCOME TO WELTON !**_

 **"ELIZA, DARLING,** time to head off," John Keating called to his niece from the bathroom of their conjoined bedrooms. He had a toothbrush in his mouth, the suds bubbling up as Eliza poked her head in, a small smile gracing her pink lips.

"Alright, Uncle. I'm ready," she stated, heading back to her room to grab her bag.

"Did you brush your hair?" he asked as she left, getting a loud groan in return. John smiled to himself, spitting the toothpaste back into the sink.

"You know it just makes it worse," Eliza exclaimed, walking back in shoving the brush to the bottom of her bag. "It's like a bird's nightmare home," she stated, standing beside her Uncle so they could look at each other in the mirrors.

"Alright, alright," he exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "You look beautiful either way," he stated.

John pulled his niece into his side, kissing the top of her head as he pulled her down. She rolled her eyes, ruffling her hair up further, making it look worse. John rolled his eyes, taking her bag and placing it on his shoulder.

"Off we go, then, to Hellton!" he laughed, turning on his heel for his door and she the other way to lock the other.

They checked out from the motel, loading up the car with their bags. John tossed his bag into the trunk, followed by Eliza's. He grinned at her before slamming the trunk loudly. He made his way to the driver's door and she did the same with the passenger's, the two looking at each other over the roof of the car.

"Now, being at such a prestigious school will be difficult but I believe you can do it," John claimed, nodding his head.

Eliza raised one of her eyebrows at him, Wellton was for wealthy boys only. It was only under very special circumstances that she was able to stay on the premises with her Uncle at the Academy.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not attending this school, if that has slipped your mind," she teased.

"Exactly, my darling niece! The most prestigious school is me!" he exclaimed, laughing barbarically as he slid into the car, slamming his door.

Eliza followed, sitting beside him and tuning the radio to a good tune.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Eliza asked, turning the music up louder so John would have to talk over it.

"Well, either way, you'll come to see that I was right."

Eliza nodded at his words, not doubting him.

John pulled them out of their parking spot, starting on the long history of Wellton from his point of view. From the silly pillars to their excessive pride of Ivy League. He then led onto his own years at Wellton excluding a few things as he seemed to always do.

As John was approaching the subject of some society he had co-created, they pulled into Wellton Academy. John had finished his lecture, which Eliza was thankful for, and stepped out of the car to grab their luggage.

They dragged it up into the teacher's quarters where they stood, a double room conjoined by the bathroom like their motel. It was nice for them to have their space away from each other but still be able to call upon the other. Usually, this would have been shared with another professor but under the circumstances, they allowed it.

"Eliza, I have to get off to the Welcoming Ceremony. You're free to join me, but you'll have to sit in the crowd," John explained with a small shrug.

"What do I have to loose?" she asked with a shrug.

Eliza was already dressed nice, with a long blue dress with white flowers patterned in and black mary janes to tie it together. Hopefully her nice clothes would distract from her crow's nest hair.

"Well, maybe an ear drum or two," John chuckled, although Eliza had no idea what he was going on about. He waved his hand at her, in a manner that said she would understand later.

The two walked to the small sanctuary, walking inside to find it almost deserted as the other students had yet to arrive.

John looked up at the front where the other teachers already sat and kissed his nieces head.

"I'll be up there if you need me," he explained. "Sit wherever you'd like."

The two branched off from one another, Eliza taking one of the seats towards the front, the whole bench unoccupied but her. As time passed, families were starting to pack in the benches. A woman and her husband sat down, a seat away from her as they talked quietly to themselves.

After the couple in front of her had sat, a loud grunt came from the back. Bagpipes, as a line of boys marched down the aisle between the seats followed by boys with banners with the four pillars sewn into them.

As they walked to the front, the older gentlemen in the front lighting a candle, the Headmaster greeted the room. The boys with the banners dispersing.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he greeted. He looked down to the crowd, a demeaning tone in his voice as he said, "boys."

A young man who attended the school slid in from her side to sit beside his parents. He smiled awkwardly, sitting for still as he listened to the Headmaster.

His eyes kept flickering sideways, staring at the young girl sitting all alone. No mother or father watching their boy run off to school or something.

"What're you doing here all alone?" the boy whispered out of the corner of his mouth, slightly slumping in his seat so his parents wouldn't hear him.

"My Uncle is the new teacher," she explained, nodding her head slightly to the front.

"What about your parents?" he continued to question.

Eliza turned her head to look at the boy with brown hair and soft eyes.

"Shouldn't I get a name before you keep asking me so many questions?" she asked, a smirk turning up her lips.

"I'm Knox. Knox Overstreet," he greeted kindly, his head turning towards her too.

"Eliza Keating," she nodded. "I'm in my Uncle's custody," she explained his earlier question.

Knox seemed a bit shocked by the answer but as he went to continued the Headmaster had called for the Four Pillars. As the other boys stood, he followed and recited, "Tradition, honor, discipline, excellence."

They returned to their seats.

Eliza stifled a laugh which Knox rolled his eyes at. His mother had turned to look at Knox, annoyed by his chattering and they both quieted.

"As you know, our beloved Mr. Portius of the English department retired last term. You will have the opportunity later to meet his replacement, Mr. John Keating, himself a graduate of this school. And who, for the past several years, has been teaching at the highly regarded Chester School in London," he relayed to the crowd.

John, slightly embarrassed by the attention, to his feet anyways and smiled pleasantly to crowd as the uniformly clapped.

After the Headmaster's long, agonizing speech and prayer they were finally dismissed.

"So, I guess this is goodbye," Knox stated, holding his hand out for the young woman. "It was nice meeting you, Eliza."

"Actually, special case, I get to stay here and out of sight for the most part, but I feel like we'll see plenty of each other," Eliza smiled widely, taking his hand in hers.

Knox grinned ear to ear before he was dragged off by his parents so that they could gather his things and speak to the new teacher, Mr. Keating.

John rushed down to his niece before he had to be escorted off to talk with the parents.

"Thankfully it's over but I still need to speak with the parents who want to introduce themselves and size me up," he explained, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Go off to the room and prepare for dinner, I shouldn't be longer than an hour."

* * *

 **THE DEAD** poets, for all they were worth, were just a bunch of hormonal teenagers in the beginning. As they gathered in Neil Perry's room, with the new addition of Todd Anderson, the doors closed they could entertain themselves with mockery.

"Gentlemen, what are the four pillars?" Neil asked his friends, puffing out his chest.

"Travesty, horror, decadence, excrement," they said, unable to keep up with the other

The boys all made themselves comfortable around the room, sitting on whatever they could find while Todd stood awkwardly by his bed unpacking.

Charlie laid on Neil's bed, lighting a cigarette as he spoke to Neil.

"Y'know, Knox was talking about this broad who sat next to him in the Welcoming this morning," Charlie grinned slyly to Neil. "I even saw her with the new teacher," he winked. "One hell of a woman, I'd tell you that."

"Really? And Knoxious was able to talk to her?" Neil asked, looking over at Knox who turned slightly red.

"Yeah, well, her name's Eliza. Mr. Keating's her uncle," he explained sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Ah, Knox, d'you get her number?" Neil asked excitedly.

The rarity of meeting a girl their age was high, if not for family dinners or... really nothing else, it was just pure luck to meet a woman.

"Or a last name?" Meeks asked, sitting at the desk across from Knox. "You could at least look her up."

"Her name's Keating. I thought that was obvious," Knox remarked, slightly annoyed by them not listening. "And, anyway, she's staying here under special circumstances," Knox grinned again.

The boys all chattered excitedly until a knock sounded at the door and everything turned to hell as Charlie stomped out his cigarette and the boys tried to act normal. Neil called for the knocker to enter, only to find his father behind the door.

Neil was left with his father lecturing him on the prize Wellton was for them, the other boys leaving him alone to suffer his father's wants over his own needs.

* * *

 **an. i posted this awhile back and ig i deleted it? i'm not sure but im reuploading. um, this will all be edited and made much neater and hopefully the plot and everything else will make way more sense. hope you guys enjoy!**


	3. An Ode to Lincoln

**CHAPTER THREE**  
 _ **ENGLISH !**_

 **ENGLISH WAS** a normal enough class, with normal desks and normal students. The only thing off was a new teacher for the boys at Wellton Academy, and Mr. Keating was obviously excited for his first class with these boys.

"You're just going to walk through?" Eliza asked her Uncle.

They stood behind the closed door of John's office. The bell had rung only moments ago. John nodded at Eliza with a large grin, excited by his idea.

"Yes, yes," he agreed, opening the door slightly so the two could peek out. The boys walked in with their books, talking amongst themselves along with a paper ball flying across the room. "Stay in here until I'm gone. I think the boys will be too distracted by a pretty girl to notice me," he explained, a small chuckle following. "You'll also be joining this class, it'll do you good to have some peers."

John straightened his back, winking at Eliza and handed his clipboard over.

"If anyone asks," John whispered. "You're my assistant for the class."

John straightened his shoulders and stepped out of the office, whistling the 1812 Overture.

Eliza moved to the door so she could peek out, watching as the boys straightened at the sight of their teacher as if a stick had been shoved up their asses. They all followed the man with their eyes, and watched as he walked out the door.

"Well, come on," John called when none of them moved.

It took the boys a moment, but they all shuffled out of the classroom and followed their teacher.

John Keating led his students to the trophy room for those currently attending and alumni. As the boys crammed inside the small room, they whispered among each other about the strange teacher. A few of them stared as a woman their age made it through the crowd and stood beside John, or Mr. Keating as he was in the classroom.

Eliza held the clipboard with one hand and counted the room with her eyes before checking all the boxes off. She looked back up, noticing Knox early, but didn't want to loose count.

She smiled sweetly and he smiled back.

The boy beside Knox, who she could have confused as his brother, nudged Knox in the ribs, a shit eating grin making up half his face.

" _Oh Captain, My Captain,_ who knows where that comes from?" John, or Mr. Keating, asked his class.

Eliza watched the class, holding the attendance at her waist as she kept her lips sealed. Both John and her knew she had a long history with the poem, especially when John tried to push her to call her Captain instead of Uncle.

One soft spoken boy looked up when Mr. Keating recited the words and nodded his head in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything. The rest turned, without the knowledge they didn't want to be called upon.

"Not a clue?" Mr. Keating asked, trying to catch someone's eye. "It's a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln.

"Now, in this class you can call me Mr. Keating," he introduced himself finally. "Or, if you're slightly more daring, Oh Captain, My Captain."

The boys laughed at his words, and Eliza noticed Knox in the back look him up and down, as if questioning his qualifications as a teacher.

Eliza tapped her pen on the top of her clipboard with a smile.

"I'll just take the Captain part," Eliza stated as all eyes turned to her.

"And this is Eliza, or Captain as she claims," Mr. Keating laughed, stepping over to Eliza and gripping one of her shoulders to the side.

Eliza noticed he didn't walk behind her anymore since her growth spurt over the summer. Now, she was just the same height as him.

"My niece, under special circumstances, has been allowed to stay at Wellton. In this class she will be gaining her English credit and helping me since she's quite clever. If you ever have any questions feel free to ask, and if not, _well,_ you could always be friends!" John exclaimed, shaking Eliza's shoulder.

The boys laughed again as Eliza turned bright red at her embarrassing Uncle.

"Now, let me dispel a few rumors so they don't fester into facts," Mr. Keating called, stepping away from Eliza and to the center of the room. "Yes, I too, attended Hellton and survived. And no, at that time I was not the mental giant you see before you. I was the intellectual equivalent of a ninety-eight pound weakling. I would go to the beach and people would kick copies of Byron in my face," he explained, as if it didn't make him look more like a dork.

The boys, and even Eliza, laughed at him, trying to show humility but still looking like a 'mental giant' as he claimed, even in his younger years.

"Now, choose a name, Eliza," John asked with a snap of his fingers once they were all done laughing.

Eliza looked down at the clipboard for a name to jump out at her and one really did.

"Pitts!" she exclaimed.

John deflated at the name, his shoulders slumping and an odd frown coming across his face. He turned back to Eliza.

"That's a rather unfortunate name," he said, turning back to the class. "Mr. Pitts, where are you?" he asked, looking across the room to find a tall young man with a buzz cut slowly raise his hand. "Mr. Pitts, would you open you hymnal to page 542 and read the first stanza of the poem you find there?"

The boys flipped to the page, slightly stunned by the title of the poem.

" _To the Virgins, to Make Much Time?"_ Pitts asked in confusion, double-checking with his teacher before he went on.

"Yes, that one," Mr. Keating affirmed, a teasing grin. "Somewhat appropriate, isn't it?"

Pitts nodded, rolling his shoulders back and leaning over to read his text aloud.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may / Old Time is still a-flying: / And this same flower that smiles today / Tomorrow will be dying."

"Thank you, Mr. Pitts.

" _Gather ye rosebuds while ye may_. The Latin term for that sentiment is Carpe Diem. Now, who knows what that means?" John asked the class.

A red haired boy with large glasses rose his hand immediately. "Carpe Diem. That's 'seize the day,'" he translated.

"Very good, Mr...?" John agreed, waiting for a last name.

"Meeks," the boy supplied.

Mr. Keating let a smile slip at the name. "Another unusual name," he said.

Eliza pulled her clipboard up, writing small notes by his and Pitts' names so that they could both remember who they were. She even jotted down a few things for Knox before returning to the class.

"Seize the day, _gather ye rosebuds while ye may,"_ Mr. Keating recited both sentiments a second time for them to sink in. "Why does the writer use these lines?" he asked.

"Because he's in a hurry," a boy in the back called with a smug smile. He stood beside Knox, and Eliza noticed he was the one who had teased him earlier.

"No, ding!" Mr. Keating exclaimed, putting his hand down on an imaginary buzzer. "Thank you for playing anyway. Eliza, thoughts? I don't believe you've read this one," he called, pointing at his niece who had suddenly grown nervous at the spotlight.

"Um, til death do us part?" she asked awkwardly, her Uncle narrowed his eyes slightly but nodded his head.

"That would be an abstract version," he laughed softly, turning back to the boys. "We are food for _worms_ , lads, because believe it or not, each and everyone of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold and die."

The room felt like it had done so at that moment, as all the boys stopped for a moment, letting the thought sink in. Eliza stared at her Uncle, the nervousness in her fingers as she tried to relax for the momentary attention.

"Now, I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You've walked past them many times, but I don't think you've really looked at them."

The boys all moved in together to take a look at the cases filled with pictures.

"You too, Eliza," Mr. Keating called as she moved in as well.

She stood beside Knox who smiled down at her, she smiled back before both of them looked at the photographs.

"They're not that different from you, are they? Besides Eliza they have the same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they're destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make their likes even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils, but if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy. Go on, lean in," Mr. Keating urged.

The boys and Eliza all shuffled forward to hear the words from the pictures. Their heads slightly turned as they waited.

From down the line, Eliza heard the hoarse rasp of her Uncle saying "Carpe... Carpe... Carpe Diem" making a few heads turn.

"Hear it?" he asked his class "Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary," he whispered in the silent room until the bell rang.

* * *

 **"THAT WAS** weird," Pitts told Neil as they stepped outside of the school for gym.

"But different," Neil stated, amused by the class that had been held. It was like nothing none of them had ever experiences. Kind of felt, out of body.

"Spooky, if you ask me," Knox commented from behind.

Charlie rolled his eyes, putting an arm around Knox's shoulder.

"Yeah, well while you were making eyes at the niece, we were all learning how to seize the day," he laughed at himself, ruffling up Knox's hair.

Neil rolled his eyes at the two, noticing Pitts finger in his perphial vision point across the yard. "Isn't that her there?" he asked.

And there she was, Eliza Keating, with matted hair and bright blue eyes and talking with another boy; but unlike Knox she looked uncomfortable as she held a book to her chest.

The boy had placed a hand on her hip, thankfully (and oddly) she was wearing jeans which didn't let his hand wander where Neil believed he wanted them to be.

Before any of the others could move, Neil was across the grass and pushing his way in between the boy and Eliza.

"Do we have a problem?" Neil asked, looking the guy up and down with his jaw set in a frown.

The boy he knew as James chuckled off handly, turning away from him to wink at his friends.

"Nah, man. I was just talkin' to this chick and seeing if she was up for anything. Being holed up in this boys school doesn't help the hormones much, does it?" James asked, his smirk hinting at his lips as he lazily looked up at Neil.

"Sorry, man, but I don't think she wants that," Neil hissed through his teeth, glaring down at James.

"You don't think?" James asked, his voice going up an octave. "Well, then why don't we ask her?"

Charlie and the rest of the boys stood behind James, Charlie's hand resting on his shoulder. James spun around quickly.

"Scram," Charlie whispered, and the boy ran.

The boys all smiled at each other before looking back at Eliza who still looked a bit frightened, dusting her shirt where his hand laid off.

"Thank you," she whispered to Neil, setting her hand on his arm. "If there's anything I could do for you, or _any_ of you, please, name it!"

"There's a study group tonight," Knox said before anyone else could say anything. "I can't make it but the rest of 'em will be there."

Eliza nodded her head and Neil could feel the smile rising on his cheeks.

"What time is it? I'll try to make it."

"Eight o'clock," Neil said quickly.

"Are you having dinner with your Uncle?" Knox asked, raising a brow.

"No, I get to have dinner in the hall since they don't want food in the rooms," Eliza explained with a shrug.

"Then we can walk you to the study room," Pitts offered sweetly.

"Thanks boys, I'll see you soon," Eliza called.

She waved her hand before turning around and making her way back into the building. Neil watched after her with something worming itself into his heart. He could feel his heart pump a little faster and his hands shake just the smallest bit.

All the boys stared at him with knowing grins.


	4. A Cry to Chris

**CHAPTER FOUR  
 _A CRY TO CHRIS !_  
**

 **AFTER** that night's dinner of the perfectly balanced protein, vegetables and fruit so that their diets were in order for maintaining thought process, focus and agility, the boys were quick to shove Eliza off to the student lounge.

Eliza sat with Neil, Charlie and Cameron in the corner of the room to do trig since none of them were the best at it.

"If I could kill a subject, I would," Eliza muttered, erasing most of her work from the first question. She stared at the hand written questions her Uncle had given her as she made a face at it.

Sadly, her trig was different than the boy's since they didn't have trig with Keating, only English and it was starting to grate her nerves when she continued to figure out what was going on and unable to ask for help.

Neil, Charlie and Cameron had made it to number five in a snap and then were stuck for twenty minutes.

Eliza leaned over to look at Neil's book and try to help. If she couldn't even figure out her own she wasn't sure how much help she'd be.

"The numbers become x and then... I don't know after that," Eliza shrugged at Neil, her hand brushing against his arm as she pointed at the long stream of numbers.

Neil nodded, his glasses perched on his nose as he followed her finger. "Okay, thanks," he muttered, eyebrows furrowed.

"This is why I like English," Eliza said, still watching Neil's face. "Even if you don't get it, there's a good chance that you can chance the answer and still be right."

Neil looked over at Eliza, his lips turning up impishly at her statement.

"That's true, although you could be catastrophically wrong," Neil shrugged, twirling his pencil between his fingers.

"If you two are done..." Cameron called, trying to finish his sentence but just ended up flinging his hands up. "Then can we continue with this. What did you get for five, Neil?"

"I didn't," Neil responded bluntly, his mouth turning into a frown.

Cameron looked appalled by Neil, although Cameron didn't have the answer either. "What? Come on, why not?"

"I don't get it!" Neil exclaimed, leaning back in his seat.

For a moment, Cameron turned to Charlie who was staring at his paper, completely lost. Cameron let out a long sigh, and stood up with his textbook so he could stand in between the two.

"Just replace these numbers with x, for x and y," Cameron explained, pointing with his pencil.

Neil looked up at the red head with a dissatisfied look, Eliza looking up as well. She had at least gotten that much.

"Of course," Neil agreed.

"Of course, so what's the problem?" Cameron asked, looking over at Neil clearly confused by him.

The door opened, letting a breeze come in as Knox closed it again and leaned against it with a heavy sigh.

"How was dinner?" Charlie asked.

"Huh?" Knox asked in a daze.

"How was dinner?" Charlie repeated.

"Terrible," Knox muttered, slouching his way over to the table. "Awful," he continued, pulling out the chair beside Eliza, flopping down into it with a frown.

"Why? What happened?" Charlie asked, pulling himself up in his chair and leaning forward.

"Tonight, I met the most beautiful girl in my entire life," Knox told them in a steady beat as he looked between everyone. Except Cameron was paying more attention to his textbook.

Eliza's smile widened as she took Knox's hand and squeezed it sweetly.

"Are you crazy?" Neil asked softly, removing his glass. His grin was soft and delicate. "What's wrong with that?"

Eliza glanced over at Neil to see him doing the same and both returned their gazes to Knox with slightly red cheeks.

"She's practically engaged," Knox moaned, taking a breath as her enunciated the name that dripped from his lips like venom. "To Chet. Danbury."

Knox's brown eyes rolled into the back of his head before returning to normal.

"That guy could eat a football," Charlie announced, trying to lighten the mood.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eliza asked.

"It's poetry, dear Eliza, you must understand," Charlie smirked, his voice raspy from the cigarette he had burned earlier.

"That's too bad," Pitts called from his table with Meeks, the two working on a radio to try and get signal since they were banned at Welton.

Knox turned on Pitts, desperate for him to understand.

"'Too bad?' It's worse than 'too bad', Pittsie. It's a tragedy. A girl this beautiful in love with such a jerk," Knox sighed, blinded by this Chris girl.

"All the good ones go for jerks, you know that," Pitts declared, leaning back into his project.

Eliza leaned over to Knox with a teasing smile. "It's true, that's why I've been pursuing Charlie," she stated with a small chuckle escaping from her.

"Really?" Neil asked, a little too distraught while Charlie's tipped chair fell backwards.

"Of course, Neil. Why wouldn't I?" Eliza rolled her eyes, leaning her head on hand as she looked into his deep brown eyes.

Neil rolled his eyes back, catching on while Charlie returned to his seat slightly embarrassed.

"Ah, forget her," Cameron called. "Open your trig book and try to figure out problem five," Cameron told his lovestruck friend seriously, motioning apathetically to his own book as an example.

"I can't just _forget_ her, Cameron, and I can't think about trig," he spat, watching Cameron huff in annoyance.

A shrill beep cut through the room, silencing a few of the students as they turned to Meeks and Pitts, their radio finally coming to life. But, Dr. Hager stepped into the room, calling for their five minute mark.

"And would one you more respactable boys," Dr. Hager called, eyeing Charlie pointedly, before continuing, "take Miss. Keating to her room, please?"

Knox nodded before anyone else, standing to his feet to help Eliza pack her things away.

Charlie stood as well, hitting Knox on the side of his arm to grab his attention between the hustle and bustle. "Did you see her naked?" Charlie asked, and was immediately hit in the arm by Eliza.

"Very funny, Dalton," Knox said sarcastically, putting Eliza's bag over his shoulder.

"Good night, everyone," Eliza called, looking between everyone and smiling kindly. Neil gave her a small smile in return and waved, Cameron didn't say anything and Charlie gave her a wink and a good night back. "See you tomorrow in English," she said as she rounded the door with Knox, the two walking down the halls to the teacher's quarters.

"So," Eliza drawled, turning to look at Knox with a large smile. "What was her name?"

Knox smiled, as if just the name on his tongue appeased his need to be with her. "Chris Noel."

Eliza grinned at the sight of him, all love struck and soon to be heart broken.

"It's beautiful, even if this Chet Danbury who could eat a football is in the mix, maybe you have a chance. Most high school relationships don't last long anyway," Eliza shrugged, trying to reassure him.

"Really?" he asked, his hope rising with her words.

"Really," she agreed. "Maybe you'll see you're the one worth the time."

The two made it to the front doors of her room and she quickly kissed Knox's cheek even if it was a struggle because of his height. "Good night, Knoxy."

"Night, Ellie," he grinned, turning back to the boy's dormitory and sent her a wave before he turned at the end of the hall.


End file.
